Brexit risks ‘chaos’

There could be years of uncertainty for workers and employers if the UK votes to leave the European Union.

That’s according to leading legal expert, Michael Ford QC, who was commissioned by the TUC to give his considered opinion.

Ford identifies the dangers for working people and their rights at work should Britain vote to leave the EU. He lists the rights that would be most at risk of being diluted or scrapped after Brexit, and it considers the mechanisms for removing EU workplace laws in the UK.

In his legal opinion Ford – whose specialises in labour law at London’s Old Square Chambers – says “there is no precedent for the kind of radical overhaul of laws which would potentially flow from Brexit”.

Commercial chaos

He adds that simply repealing the European Communities Act 1972, as some Brexit supporters appear to advocate, is an “almost unimaginable” course of action, which would lead to “legal and commercial chaos.”

More likely, he suggests, is a lengthy transition in which the government could pick and choose which EU rights to dilute or scrap – as some prominent supporters of the Leave campaigns such as Lord Lawson and Lord Stevens appear to want.

This would create long-term uncertainty and confusion for both employers and workers, and it could result in workers losing many hard-won rights at work.

As Ford points out, “all the social rights in employment currently required by EU law would be potentially vulnerable”.

 

Best hope

Unite is campaigning for the UK to remain a member of the EU, arguing for urgent reform to protect solidarity between nations, while recognising that continuing membership is – as General Secretary Len McCluskey has said –  “the best hope for the jobs and rights” of British workers.

Ford lists those rights that he believes are most at risk, post-Brexit, from a government with a deregulatory agenda. These include rights to properly-paid holidays, protections for agency workers, health and safety protections, and protections from some forms of employer discrimination – such as compensation rates, and protections for pregnant workers and older workers.

The legal opinion also notes that, regardless of whether the UK government were to choose to retain any EU-guaranteed worker protections, workers would no longer be able to seek redress from the European Court of Justice .

The Court’s rulings make sure all workers can benefit from EU-guaranteed workers’ rights and a notable ECJ ruling in 1982 extended equal pay rules to include equal pay for work of equal value, benefitting millions of women workers.

Ford also makes the point that, in his view, “it is easy to contemplate a complete reversal of the gradual increase in social regulation protecting workers which has taken place since the 1960s”.

Big risk

In response TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “voting to leave the EU is a big risk for everyone who works for a living.

“Brexit would mean working people are haunted by years of uncertainty, as rights like paid holiday, parental leave and equal treatment for part-timers and contract workers could be stripped away over time.

“The EU guarantees these rights, but generations of trade unionists fought for them. If we lose them because of Brexit, it could take generations to get them back again.

Bad bosses

“The biggest cheerleaders for Brexit think that your protections at work are just red tape to be binned. Bad bosses will be rubbing their hands with glee if Brexit gives them the chance to cut workers’ hard-won protections,” added O’Grady.